{"id":496834,"date":"2026-02-22T13:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T13:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/496834\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T13:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T13:28:08","slug":"rich-girl-playing-tennis-zheng-qinwen-reveals-why-buffalo-bills-heiress-jessica-pegula-is-nicknamed-dafu-in-china-international-sports-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/496834\/","title":{"rendered":"“Rich girl playing tennis”: Zheng Qinwen reveals why Buffalo Bills heiress Jessica Pegula is nicknamed \u2018Dafu\u2019 in China | International Sports News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\""RichZheng Qinwen opens up on Jessica Pegula\u2019s \u2018Dafu\u2019 nickname in China.Image via: Getty Jessica Pegula may have lifted the Dubai Tennis Championships trophy, but one of the week\u2019s most talked-about moments happened off the court. A casual, unplanned chat between Pegula and Zheng Qinwen quickly became a viral moment, bringing together humor and the ongoing curiosity about Pegula\u2019s billionaire background. It happened while Pegula and Desirae Krawczyk were filming a snack review for their show, \u201cThe Player\u2019s Box Podcast.\u201d When Zheng joined in, the conversation turned to Pegula\u2019s popular nickname in China, \u201cDafu.\u201dThe clip quickly spread on social media, with fans on X, Instagram and Chinese forums sharing subtitles and reactions. Many praised Zheng for being honest and Pegula for taking it lightly, while others said it showed how global the WTA Tour and its fan base really are.<\/p>\n

The billionaire backdrop behind the name<\/p>\n

The term “dafu” translates to \u201cBig Rich,\u201d a reference to Pegula\u2019s family wealth that Chinese fans use with a mix of humor and love. That nickname opened the door to a playful but honest question.Smiling as she explained how Pegula is discussed on China\u2019s popular social platform often called \u201cRed Book,\u201d Zheng said, \u201cYes, I know, \u2018the big rich.\u2019 In China, we say why such a rich girl playing tennis because tennis is such a hard sport. Like why you are not, I don\u2019t know, in those high class life.\u201dThe comment, delivered in a light tone, reflected genuine curiosity rather than criticism. In China, \u201cDafu\u201d carries respect. It points to Pegula\u2019s background while also recognizing that she chose one of the hardest careers in professional sport.Pegula\u2019s family story is no secret in tennis news. She is the daughter of Terry Pegula and Kim Pegula. Terry built his fortune through East Resources, an oil and natural gas company that he later sold for billions before moving into professional sports ownership. The Pegula family owns the Buffalo Bills of the NFL and the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL. According to Forbes, Terry Pegula\u2019s net worth is estimated at a whopping $9.3 billion. Despite that wealth, Pegula has built her own identity on the WTA Tour. She is currently ranked World No. 5 and, in Dubai, she captured her 10th career singles title and fourth WTA 1000 crown with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Elina Svitolina in the final.Krawczyk also enjoyed a strong run, reaching the doubles quarterfinals alongside Lyudmyla Kichenok before falling to Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Kruni\u0107. Zheng, meanwhile, withdrew from the tournament on Feb. 15 due to illness. In the end, Dubai was about more than just wins and titles. It gave fans a fun cultural moment and showed a different side of the players. For Pegula, \u201cDafu\u201d is simply a nickname that comes with both humor and respect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zheng Qinwen opens up on Jessica Pegula\u2019s \u2018Dafu\u2019 nickname in China.Image via: Getty Jessica Pegula may have lifted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,250221,248798,27488,85,747,26599,136926],"class_list":["post-496834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dafu-nickname","tag-dubai-tennis-championships","tag-jessica-pegula","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-wta-tour","tag-zheng-qinwen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}